The Southern California Conference on Technology, Employment and Community will focus on the impact of this rapidly growing revolution on our social economic, and cultural experience. With the introduction of digital-based technologies into the workplace, all of us are susceptible to the influence of hi-tech developments in the future of the production of goods, service work, transportation, and the communications industries.

The new technology has already contributed to an uncontrolled restructuring of the global economy, the de-stabilization of entire nations, and the displacement of millions of working people. At the same time, this revolution offers the world great promise:

• To signal the end of meaningless toil;
• To satisfy the basic needs of all the world's citizens;
• To deliver the world's information, knowledge, and perhaps understanding, into every home;
• To offer human beings the time and energy they need to reinvent their lives, their communities, and the planet.

The Southern California Conference on Technology, Employment and Community will be open to students, scholars, community activists, business leaders, trade unionists, and anyone concerned with their livelihood and the future of their families and communities. We plan to discuss the problems and possibilities of this controversial revolution and to discuss strategies for using it to raise everyone's standard of living.

WHY LOS ANGELES?

Why should we hold a conference on the new technology here in Los Angeles? Los Angeles is an economic, cultural, and social hub for the entire Pacific Rim. L.A. is a world banking center, the fountain head of the largest, most influential entertainment industry in the world. L.A. continues to grow as a hi-tech design center and is the largest manufacturing center in the U.S. L.A. has the second-largest Spanish speaking population in the world. L.A. is a mecca for immigrants from every corner of the world. The flow of people, currency, and culture through this complex community has created a rich human tapestry. We can draw on this diversity to ensure that the Southern California Conference on Technology, Employment and Community will work toward developing a broad-based set of strategies that will keep everyone's needs on the agenda.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

The Southern California Conference on Technology, Employment and Community will feature plenary sessions and workshops. In addition to attending the conference, all interested parties are encouraged to submit proposals to:

• Organize and/or conduct a workshop;
• Make a presentation at a plenary session or workshop; or,
• Submit a paper for possible inclusion in the published conference proceedings.

Any topic related to the conference purpose is welcome, but we suggest proposals on the themes below:

• Technology
  • Future technologies
  • Access to technology
  • Measuring social impact
  • Who calls the shots?
• Employment
  • Impact of technology on industries
  • Job development
  • Future of work and the job
  • Unions and technology
  • Job training
  • Plant closing alternatives
  • Technology, health and safety
• Community
  • Impact of technology on communities
  • Community technology
  • Future of the neighborhood
  • Youth opportunities
  • Health care and technology
  • New forms of racism
  • Human capacity building
• The Economy
  • Unemployment
  • NAFTA
  • Telecommunications and the Global Economy
  • International banking
• Communication and Information
• The future of schools
• Community networks
• Universal access
• Meeting diverse needs